Fluidic ejection cartridges may be used in variety of applications, including for instance inkjet printing applications. The amount of time such cartridges remain in transit from the manufacture and/or in storage (prior to installation and use) may constitute a large portion of the lifecycle of the cartridge. In some instances, the shipping and storage time may even constitute the majority of the lifecycle of the cartridge. Consequently, it is important that the operability of the cartridge not degrade during storage, even if the cartridge remains in storage for an extended period of time.
In this regard, fluidic ejection cartridges such as consumer inkjet printing cartridges typically include a volume of an ejectable fluid made up of pigments or other solid particles dispersed in an aqueous mixture. These solid particles have a tendency to settle during shipping and storage (i.e., they are “settleable solids”), and thus the fluid in the cartridge may need to be remixed prior to actual usage. In some instances, however, the solid particles in the fluid may settle in a manner which makes it impossible to satisfactorily remix the cartridge contents, thus rendering the cartridge unusable.
It is thus desirable to provide a packaging system for the fluidic ejection cartridges which eliminates, or at least substantially reduces, the likelihood that the fluid mixture in the cartridge will separate and settle, during shipping and/or storage, in a manner which renders the cartridge unusable.
Moreover, a length of tape or other film is also often applied over the ejection chip of the cartridge during shipping and transport in order to protect the ejection chip as well as to prevent potential fluid leaks from the cartridge. However, later removal of this protective tape may itself prove to be problematic and lead to damage of the ejection chip. Moreover, consumers may at times forget to remove the protective tape from the cartridge before attempted usage, thus rendering the cartridge inoperable.
Accordingly, it is also desirable to provide a system to insure that the protective film is removed from the cartridge prior to installation and usage, and to remove the protective film in a manner which minimizes the likelihood of damage to the ejection chip or other components of the cartridge.